1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light distribution control apparatus and a light distribution control method for controlling the illuminating range (including the illuminating direction) of a headlight. More specifically, the present invention relates to a light distribution control apparatus and a light distribution control method for illuminating, with a headlight, an animal that lies in the traveling direction of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 07-137574 (hereinafter referred to as “JP 07-137574 A”), when an obstacle is detected in front of a driver's own vehicle, at least one of the brightness, the irradiating range, and the irradiating direction of a headlamp for illuminating the obstacle is calculated and controlled (claim 1). The obstacle is reliably illuminated with the light from the headlamp, so that the driver on the driver's own vehicle is prompted to notice the presence of the obstacle ([0011]).
According to JP 07-137574 A, coordinates R (Xr, Yr−β) that are positioned downwardly from the coordinates R (Xr, Yr) of the upper end of an obstacle such as a pedestrian or the like by a given value β predetermined from the size of a standard human face are determined as the “irradiating range” and “irradiating direction”. The coordinates R (Xr, Yr−β) are established as a position Ho on the image of a cutting line (the boundary line between an illuminated area and a non-illuminated area at the time a road is illuminated with light [0002]) that passes through the coordinates, and the position of the cutting line is determined ([0068]).
There has been developed a technology for detecting an animal using image information {see U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0269079 (hereinafter referred to as “US 2007/0269079 A1”) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0130954 (hereinafter referred to as “US 2008/0130954 A1”)}.